Nude ESPN Athletes Talk About Empowerment

ESPN is an unexpected magazine to have an annual nude athlete edition, especially talking about nude empowerment. Even more surprising is how many of the athletes talk about it being an empowering moment for them.  Sadly the ESPN Body 2019 issue was the last year for their print version. 

Most athletes found it a stretch even though their bodies would be the desired pinnacle for most. For others, they embrace it. There is the equal representation between the sexes. ESPN is balanced. 

Some were bold!

Liz Cambage, a Las Vegas basketball player, has been open about her anxiety and mental health struggles. Her quote with her images is, “Normal is boring, and it’s about time we start doing things differently for the outliers.”

For example, Gold Medalist Jamie Anderson related, “I’ve never done any naked shoots or even bikini shoots, so it was new for me to do this.” Anderson went deeper, “At first, I was a little bit terrified, but it was really good practice for me to accept everything about myself and love my body and not judge the little things that we do as women or anyone and just embrace where I’m at.”

Her first impulse, she explained, was to work out like mad to “get super-crazy fit,” but she hurt her foot a month earlier, so she couldn’t.

 Her Active Lifestyle Helps

Yet that turned into a positive as Jamie explained, “I still live a healthy, active lifestyle, but I wasn’t able to train as I would have. It became even more beneficial because I got to step back and embrace myself and how I am and not try to fit this Hollywood image of being really super skinny.”

 US Figure Skating Champion Ashley Wagner was thrilled that her shoot displayed her hard work on her body. She laughed when saying she “needed these for when she was old and shapeless so she can show her children she looked like this.” Many of our clients echo the same side reasons. For some, it was to be a personal memory lane.

 Like every woman, Ashley has pride points, her bum, her back and her core. She wanted the world to see that skaters are athletic and have strong bodies.

 Amanda Bingson Recalled

 Track and Field Hammer thrower Amanda Bingson recalled being kicked off her high school volleyball team because she was too fat. Even now, she fluctuates between 210 and 215 pounds. But she exclaims, “I embrace it. I love myself.”

Her nude figure graced the 2105 ESPN cover. She tells young women: “Whatever your body type is, just use it!”

 Tennis Pro Caroline Wozniacki is one of the ESPN 2017 magazine naked cover girls. She talks about how she doesn’t stress about her body and what she doesn’t have.

” I just embrace what I do have.” Now, she is fit to excel in her sport, but “If I don’t look like a supermodel on the runway, that’s okay because I look good in my own way.”

Even These Prime Bodies Find Negative Things.

All these athletes are in their prime. All are fantastic examples of what focus and hard work can achieve. But they say, over and over again, that is not the point. They all have negative things about their bodies that they have to embrace.

 What so often came out of their interviews was how empowering it was for them to do this. For many, it was their first time posing for nude photographs, which made them nervous.

 Having nude, or implied nude as their images were taken, was a confidence-expanding moment. Nearly all the athletes talked about being role models about putting it out there, embracing their bodies as is.

Inner Spirit is here For You

This is what the nude, boudoir and implied nude photography experiences found at Inner Spirit Photography do for women.  You may not have the body of an in their prime top-shelf athlete, but you can still have the experience with that powerful look. We have both the Empowerment Experience Sessions and the Adventure Experience sessions. 

Contact us to explore how you experience what the ESPN athletes have.